Leadership is a fluid concept that is highly dependent on personality, timing and circumstance.
However the most universally applicable and important of these is inner peace.
On some level, leaders must have faith in something greater than themselves. This faith could be religious in nature, but it doesn’t have to be. The important thing is that leaders have an ideal that they can hold onto and work towards.
Believing in something greater than yourself, and by extension greater than the issue you’re facing at any given moment, helps to put things into perspective and is the foundation of inner peace.
When you find peace, suddenly pressing matters seem less pressing, and it becomes possible to see the previously hidden connections between people, places, and ideas.
Life seems more extreme in the absence of inner peace. The highs we experience become more sublime, and the inevitable lows we experience feel almost unbearable.
These ups and downs cause problems, both personally and professionally.
Personally, this often leads to a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction, constantly searching for the next bigger, better thing to fill the hole in your life.
The impact is even more damaging in the professional life.
Emotional leaders tend to make rash decisions, change course rapidly, and cause unforced errors. Instead, leaders must learn the art of casual detachment to not only survive, but thrive.
They should also maintain a bit of a buffer through which information is processed.
This will enable you to digest information, analyse it in context, and make thoughtful decisions.
Leaders who possess inner peace, or at least strive to achieve it, offer a steady hand in uncertain times. Sure, things can and often do change rapidly in business, but calm, collected leadership can make those changes more palatable for everyone involved.
Leaders are their own worst enemies who sabotage the chances of success by giving in to the whims of our emotions.
Without a strong sense of inner peace, a leader cannot offer a steady hand in difficult situations, and without that source of stability, organizations cannot survive.
Courtesy: www.forbes.com
